In this episode, I’ll discuss the most common triggers for a rapid response call.
A retrospective multisite cohort study published in Critical Care Medicine October 2019 examined this issue. The article is titled Characteristics of Rapid Response Calls in the United States: An Analysis of the First 402,023 Adult Cases From the Get With the Guidelines Resuscitation-Medical Emergency Team Registry.
According to this analysis, the most frequent event triggers are:
Respiratory (which include decreased o2 sat, new onset of difficulty breathing, tachypnea, or respiratory depression).
Cardiovascular ( which include tachycardia, hypotension chest pain unresponsive to NTG, and bradycardia).
Neurologic (which includes altered mental status, acute loss of consciousness, seizure, suspected stroke, agitation or delirium).
Knowledge of the most common triggers can be used to help train staff or decide on medication contents of emergency kits.
To learn how to manage inpatient medical emergencies from a pharmacist’s point of view, get my book, A Pharmacist’s Guide to Inpatient Medical Emergencies available here.
Leave a Reply